Raytheon, the missile's manufacturer, said the authorization affects more than 35 ships with the Aegis baseline 5.3 and 3.A.0 system series.

"SM-6 is the longest range integrated air and missile defense interceptor deployed, and its multi-role capabilities are unprecedented," said Mike Campisi, Raytheon's Standard Missile-6 senior program director.

The SM-6 is a surface-to-air supersonic missile. It is designed to defeat manned and unmanned aerial vehicles, fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft and anti-ship cruise missiles in flight. It features active and semi-active guidance, advanced fuzing techniques and signal processing and guidance control capabilities.